Calling Bradley Manning a She---Educate me DU.

[mockmonkey]

304. Good Question

I think that they don't want it to be considered a mental disorder just like being gay used to be considered a disorder by the APA.

But because of GID some insurance companies may pay for some of the costs of sex reassignment. Plus you might have some HIPAA protections.

I know more about Female to Males and the costs associated with that. You need to pay for the needles and testosterone and medically you still go to GP for pap smears and blood tests. Insurance will probably not pay for a hysterectomy and the exams are always questioned by the insurance companies as to why the GP is performing them on a male patient.

I'm not even up to date on a lot of this stuff. I got into this subject because of relationships/friendships that I was involved in starting in 1999.

GID is now called Gender Dysphoria.

When you add Intersex to the mix that makes it even more complicated because people like everything to be pink or blue.

"In the same way, nature presents us with sex anatomy spectrums. Breasts, penises, clitorises, scrotums, labia, gonads—all of these vary in size and shape and morphology. So-called “sex” chromosomes can vary quite a bit, too. But in human cultures, sex categories get simplified into male, female, and sometimes intersex, in order to simplify social interactions, express what we know and feel, and maintain order."

"So nature doesn’t decide where the category of “male” ends and the category of “intersex” begins, or where the category of “intersex” ends and the category of “female” begins. Humans decide. Humans (today, typically doctors) decide how small a penis has to be, or how unusual a combination of parts has to be, before it counts as intersex. Humans decide whether a person with XXY chromosomes or XY chromosomes and androgen insensitivity will count as intersex."

http://www.isna.org/faq/what_is_intersex

I know some people on DU think that others are being too PC concerning this subject but if they knew the hurt and pain they are inflicting on others even on a message board they might change, but not likely. I'm not too confident concerning the internet and its use to hurt others anonymously. But people do learn, Keith Olbermann used to use the "Mann Coulter" reference on his show and later changed it to "Coultergeist" and even in DU it's not said as much as it used to be. The same with the Adam's apple remarks which both sexes are actually born with, during puberty males Adam's apples grow in size.

Someone mentioned in one of the threads that the subject was scary. I don't know what scares them about it other than they might not know for sure what someones gender was or is.

What is scary is injecting testosterone that might lead to liver damage and increases the chance for stroke or heart attack or taking hormones and having surgeries that could kill you. But for many it's either that or suicide.

I have a feeling that Chelsea might have thought that joining the Army might change her feelings and make her the man society expected her to be. I have read of others that had done the macho thing to the extreme and in the end they had to transition or else. If the government wanted to keep secrets they sure do a lousy job of knowing the people (snowden) who have access to those secrets.

On Youtube there are many young adults posting their transitions and that makes it a bit more personal. Of course some will say that people transition for the attention that's just stupid.

I don't think I had a good answer to your question so I just ranted.